| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: bending her head, gave him a look like that of a kid tethered with its
head to the ground, and finding herself still the object of his
pursuit, she hurried on as if to fly. Nevertheless, each time that a
block of carriages, or any other delay, brought Andrea to her side, he
saw her turn away from his gaze without any signs of annoyance. These
signals of restrained feelings spurred the frenzied dreams that had
run away with him, and he gave them the rein as far as the Rue Froid-
Manteau, down which, after many windings, the damsel vanished,
thinking she had thus spoilt the scent of her pursuer, who was, in
fact, startled by this move.
It was now quite dark. Two women, tattooed with rouge, who were
Gambara |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: Horses stampeding about, and in quite a panic all the Hares
scuttled off to a lake hard by, determined to drown themselves
rather than live in such a continual state of fear. But just as
they got near the bank of the lake, a troop of Frogs, frightened
in their turn by the approach of the Hares scuttled off, and
jumped into the water. "Truly," said one of the Hares, "things
are not so bad as they seem:
"There is always someone worse off than yourself."
The Wolf and the Kid
A Kid was perched up on the top of a house, and looking down
saw a Wolf passing under him. Immediately he began to revile and
Aesop's Fables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Herland by Charlotte Gilman: of his Celis; and Terry--Terry made so many false starts and met so
many rebuffs, that by the time he really settled down to win Alima,
he was considerably wiser. At that, it was not smooth sailing.
They broke and quarreled, over and over; he would rush off to
console himself with some other fair one--the other fair one
would have none of him--and he would drift back to Alima, becoming
more and more devoted each time.
She never gave an inch. A big, handsome creature, rather
exceptionally strong even in that race of strong women, with a
proud head and sweeping level brows that lined across above her
dark eager eyes like the wide wings of a soaring hawk.
Herland |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Just Folks by Edgar A. Guest: That money I am here to earn,
But I don't work for him alone;
Allegiance to myself I own.
I do not do my best because
It gets me favors or applause--
I work for him, but I can see
That actually I work for me.
"It looks like business good to me
The best clerk on the staff to be.
If customers approve my style
And like my manner and my smile
Just Folks |
